The Seismic Fracture
by SitcomLoser0
Summary: After a disastrous anniversary Sheldon and Amy are hit by a once a in a century earthquake. Trapped in rubble they face themselves, each other and biology.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

Almost like giving permission, he gently braced his hands around her knees. While Amy held on to his shoulders. Heat radiated through her from her face to the tips of her fingers. The ceiling of her mouth and floor of her nose itched.

He could feel her heat. Sheldon now felt an odd comfort in a situation that once repulsed him. As dopamine flooded as he let go of all tension.

"Can you believe it's been five years since our first date?".

"I know".

Like a tamed animal she rubbed him. Sheldon rocked back and forth holding on to her sides. They didn't break contact. He was comfortable.

A bit too comfortable.

"Do you think I should stop watching the flash tv show?".

Amy enjoyed the last second she could almost like running on fumes.

"That's what you're thinking about?".

"Well one of the things". Sheldon was still in a passionate trance.

"Are any of them me?"

"Yes, I thought I can't decide if I should watch the flash tv show. I'll ask Amy. Anyway".

He pulled himself towards her. Part of him thinking he could get away with it, this time and again. She pushed him back in disgust. He was so sure he get out of trouble he even threw in a "You're right you did kill the mood".

It was more of the same for Amy. But it was starting to accumulate.

"I didn't kill anything".

"Excuse me, but starting to watch a television that might run for years isn't a decision to take lightly".

She had her victories the past few months. She hoped she could get another one tonight. The fifth anniversary. Five years, four of them she waited patiently.

"Sheldon".

Amy reminded herself of all the cold shoulders, the ignoring, how he was only motivated to move on in the relationship through jealously of other men. It made it easy for her to continue.

"Do you understand the irony of you're fixation on a man with super speed after five years all I can get out of you is a distracted make out session on the couch".

He looked at her. He tried to take in everything. It felt so difficult to measure it all at once. Her tense facial expressions with a wobbly posture. He thought out the possibly answers and chose humility. Hoping it would help her see where he was coming from.

"Irony is not my strong suit. But I have been getting better with sarcasm if you want to give that a try".

"Oh sure I'd love to". She snapped

"Whenever you're ready".

Suddenly Sheldon looked simple. Waiting for some sort of response. It was a bluff and she didn't call it.

Amy glanced at the ground in embarrassment. Her chest started to hurt a little with her back. She suddenly realized she was dealing with a child. A smart one. A grown one. But a child. She was sure that night nothing else was going to scare as much as that one thought that flooded her head. She loved him, and she knew that he loved her. But in what way?

"I think we should call it a night".

"But it's only eight thirty".

She gathered her things. "Plenty of hours left to catch up on tv I guess" her assertive tone was falling apart.

The lights started to flicker. The kitchen table belted her off Amy's hip throwing her to the to the ground. Sheldon fell towards to fridge. The shaking went on for minutes as the two just focused on holding on to something for life. After a minute of intense shaking Sheldon crawled towards the central beam of the apartment.

He tried to climb up it but the vibrating forces of the beam kept him down. As shaking died down he found something else to fear. His mind running on maths knew something was wrong. The beam was still shaking violently.

Sheldon looked at Amy. "Stairway right now. Take a cushion, lie flat on the stairs head facing the ground. Cushion guarding you're head".

He ran for his room. "What are you going to do".

"Just go". He was never so assertive.

Amy grabbed his shoulder.

"Go", he tried to say while still moving.

"Not without you".

His brain short circuited as he raised his open hand at her. "Get out of here now".

The building cried like godzilla as steel beams begun to warp. Streams of dust promised to become rain. "Please get out" he lowered his voice to the point she could only make out his lips.

Sheldon sped for his room pulling his bug out bag out of his bed. The streams of dust grew thicker as he sprinted through the room. He took second to see his starship. Sheldon knew change was coming, he tried to fight it, he tried to run. All that was left was to endure it.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Sheldon threw himself on top of Amy. His bug out bag on top of him as some sort of critical shield. The ground below them begun to warp and bend. Internally they're bodies felt like they where in rapid motion. Nausea filled their heads.

Through the shaking Amy could feel fingers wrap around the left side of stomach.

"Sheldon are you al right?". A message that got through after endless shouting as the earthquake died down.

"Well", he was slow to add details.

He continued however. "My intestines feel like they where knotted together in a braid, my skin is numb and I have dust in my pants. Oh and the obligatory thank you for asking. How are you?".

Amy sighed in pain.

"That's fine you don't have to tell me". Sheldon remarked.

Rolling her eyes she grabbed his hand and slid it to the right side of her dress. Sheldon could feel blood.

"An injury?". He asked.

He took a deep breath. In total darkness he reached for his keys. Long ago he prepared a keyring with a LED torch, whistle, nail clippers and other handy tools. He took in his new world.

At least he got the maths right, finding the exact spot to be safe in a building collapse. Amy held on to her wound as pain raced through her stomach. Wincing she moaned as quietly as possible.

Sheldon pulled out a green glow stick from his bag filling the room with an eerie faded evergreen light filled the small space. He laid out the first aid bag's materials as hygienically as he could.

"Can you get up?".

Amy fought the pain the rest her back against Sheldon's chest.

He laid out a sheet for her to lie back on. Sheldon then unziped her dress. Even in pain Amy still felt that intimacy surge she craved. He then took off her shirt as she moved her shoulders in tandem.

"Very good Amy. Now try to rotate 360 degrees with you're knees".

Amy closed her eyes and held her arms behind her back. Moving to jolts of pain, adjusting every new movement around it.

Making eye contact. It seemed that the fight had been erased even from Sheldon's memory.

"Ok". She said through long strained breaths.

Sheldon winced at the situation facing him. Amy rested her legs flat below his arched legs.

The intimate nature of the situation felt like working on the rooftop of Chernobyl. At the same time if it was any other woman he wouldn't even consider such a thing.

Amy attempted to analyze the wound with him.

"What are you doing? Lie flat?".

"I'm the biologist remember?".

Sheldon froze up. Amy was more then a little scared at this point. However she rested her hand on on his wrist. "You can do this. Just listen to me".

Sheldon tried to fight the sight of blood.

"I've been impaled by that steel road next to my head. I pulled my abdomen out but as you can see the vibrations have left a lot of damage. There also could be an infection".

The two went through they're understand about the abdomen and they're own first aid training. Sheldon then cleaned the wound with gauze.

"This is going to hurt even worse then the injury". Sheldon let her know.

Amy smiled. "We'll just pretend this is BSDM. So master you start".

"Good lord, we're in a life threatening situation and you bring sex into it. Are you sure you don't have a problem?".

Her face dropped a little bit. "Just pour it on me".

"What?".

"It's a big wound Sheldon".

He followed her orders.

"Oh boy. That fucking smarts". Amy shrieked.

She clinched and ripped her dresses sides in two with the pain.

"That was good Sheldon". Her breath pacing through every word.

"Good, hopefully the rescuers heard that".

Watching the steady look in his eyes as he stitched the wound. Never did it seem that Sheldon would be actively be her causing intense physical pain. Sadly painkillers weren't something Sheldon had major supplies of in his bug out bag. However that survival first aid course didn't seem like a waste of money either.

They could feel the aftershock rippled through the rubble they rested on. Amy screamed as Sheldon dived the stitching needle into her. Frozen up his entire ego evaporated with his concentration. Amy gulped in air as she mentally prepared to reboot her boyfriend.

"Sheldon, you where so fast, when it happened, like Flash Gordan".

He bit deep on his lip and took out the needle. Without any aftershocks he managed to finish it in less then one hour. Blocking out the wailing noises of his neighbors below and around him.

"Great Sheldon. We can dress it now".

Lifting herself up towards him. Amy stood on her knees under the few precious inches of vertical space.

"It's the Flash by the way. Flash Gordan is a completely different character". He felt great relief letting it out.

"Thanks Sheldon".

As he wrapped the cloth around her stomach, she wrapped her arms around his shoulder. Sheldon started to breath heavily again. Dust fell on her forehead with another aftershock. Her face against his, she could feel tears amongst all the noise. It was clear it was going to be a long night.


	3. Chapter 3

On his smart phone Sheldon cranked up the volume as high as possible to play over the aftershocks. The two listened to vivid descriptions about the mayhem throughout California. A rictor 9.6 earthquake leading a disaster spanning an entire state. Fire brigades, hospitals and police forces stretched beyond any real function.

The two felt like they where on their own. Processing the whole task felt like an exhausting task now. Now they where just about surviving they had time to worry about they're friends.

"Where did Penny and Leonard go?". Amy asked, lying flat to contain the wound. "The cinema I believe watching San Andreas".

"Oh god. That's horrible". As she suddenly remembered the trailer.

"I'm not sure, disaster films are good detox when I have too much science fiction and fantasy". His words saying something callous and out of place. His tone saying something else entirely as he tried to work out the showing times in his head as hoped for his friend to be away from any tall structures.

Leonard and Penny where the solid ground for Sheldon and Amy's social lives. They where the only two people who could endure them. The two tried to think of the others in the group but it kept coming back to those their closest friends.

Amy then looked at him. Seeing see how distraught he was. The easiest distraction she thought for Sheldon in her mind was himself.

"Do you think we'll be alight?".

"We have enough supplies for three days. They are bound to dig us out by then. As for you're wound I'm sure the extra adipose helped soften the blow".

Amy gave him a look.

"Extra adipose? You mean to say I'm fat?".

He looked at her stomach.

She opened her mouth in shock while also being relieved at the shred of normality.

"You can't blame me for putting on a few lbs. It's not like we get up to much. If anything you make me feel like the quintessentially ignored house wife".

Sheldon backed his head against the rubble. "Oh boy".

"You know what, forget it".

"Ignored? I've been going into warp factor nine for you woman. Ever since I went travelling I knew I had to pick up the pace".

Then Amy said something more shocking then any news report or earthquake.

"I think, when we do it. It's going to be good. You're clearly wound up with potential energy like a massive flywheel. And it's going to last days".

His mouth open. "Wow you really are feral".

Amy snorted laughing. "That's what they called me in high school. Amy Feral Fowler".

"That sounded difficult".

Amy shrugged. "It was, but everything's different now yet there is still that anxiety...".

"Don't be anxious. As I said we have days of supplies for the two of us". Sheldon attempted to end this conversation.

"Not that. I'm scared we're going in two different directions. I don't want you doing something that you would be truly unconformable with". Her face was grim.

"You mean coitus?". His became grim too.

"I want to feel things, Sheldon. I know how the reproductive system works like how I know MDMA or cocaine works. But it's nowhere near the same as experiencing them".

"You tried hard drugs?". His eyebrows arched.

Amy shut her eyes through the pain.

"You know how I used to be exactly like you, correct?".

"Oh it was far simpler time...". For safety Sheldon looked in the opposite direction.

"I suppressed myself so badly out from a tight upbringing, my embarrassing teenage years. Then I saw that Zack guy. And that safety switch was switched off and broken. It was like I went through puberty again. Only this time with friends and a boyfriend. Then when we cuddled and kissed I felt my central nervous system surge, my hormones flow".

Amy held his hand. "It's one thing to know something. But you also need to feel things. It's like a new universe to explore and study. There is more to our brains then what we can quantify and verbally describe".

Hearing Pasadena being mentioned on the radio Sheldon increased the volume. Saved by the bell he thought. After all it seemed like hogwash to him. Amy on the other hand couldn't take in what the radio was saying. Trying to listen to the wailing and shouting from the neighbours.

Maybe one of them collapsed floor below them where Leonard and Penny coming home from their date. She hoped they where in a plaza or park. Cinema roofs are heavy. Hopefully it wasn't going to be the only thing that wasn't fantasy. Pain pulse through her stomach much like the aftershocks. Holding to her wound, Amy hoped at some point she would sleep through all this noise.


	4. Chapter 4

"Rise and shine". Sheldon was unusually chirpy.

It seemed surreal but she could hear and smell food sizzling.

"What is that smell?".

"It's a meal ready to eat. Oatmeal".

"How is it cooking?". As if it was the biggest problem she was facing.

"Magnesium oxidation fireless ration heaters". Sheldon said when an inappropriate smile.

As her brain booted up Amy started to get back to her current reality. She made the mistake of trying to sit up as her wound recoiled against her.

"Here you go".

"Thanks". The warmth from the styrofoam bowl was some relief.

Sheldon watched for her expressions. He knew he was blanking her last night. There where realities to face up to. And they weren't all the earthquake. They where barley surviving but they need a reason to.

"This is the first morning we have woken up together". Sheldon's voice didn't sound right.

Amy's lips widened as she gave him a glance before between bites.

"I'm quite astonished how prepared you're where". Amy remarked.

"Alot of it's to do with my upbringing. My father was a prepper as well as a paleo-conservative, racist, alcoholic, conspiracy theorist and miltia man. Not the most admirable man all things considered. But he tried to protect us from whatever ridiculous apocalypse he read about on a BBS. We spent New Years in a crude bunker for Y2K. It was a nuisance but it was also something to admire. Protecting you're loved ones from what you know you can't prevent".

Amy's widened lips became a smile. "It's sound like you got the best parts of him".

"I have never asked you about you're father. I was always kind of worried you would become like another Howard".

There was no pointed in getting offended now in her mind. Rolling her lower lip in with her tongue. "I'm also half Jewish".

Sheldon rolled his eyes at the coincidence.

"We don't have to talk about it".

"That's fine by me", Sheldon popped earphones on.

Given she was the only thing in the space to look at he couldn't help notice the look on her face.

"All right, just this once".

Bracing her knees defensively. "If really you don't want to hear about it...".

"Oh come on... You're one of the few interesting people in world who isn't me anyway".

Her face lit up.

"My mother was an odd blend of this 1970s career woman with some very conservative values. She couldn't stand relationships and never married. She was a translator the UN, now retired. From all the sleuthing I did to find out, all I know is she met this mossad agent during a 1982 convention in Tel Aviv. He died before I was three".

Amy couldn't say any more. She wanted to but that's all she knew. Her mother wouldn't say anything. She was in Maine this week, so she definitely survived. It didn't affect her as much.

Sheldon went through the information against what he knew about Amy. He tried to figure out something to say. Something sensitive. Women love that trite. He thought.

"It's funny, you're father was an anti-terrorist agent, mine was on a terrorist watch list".

It was trademark of her narcissistic boyfriend but she was relieved.

"How did they get on this list?".

"Oh it's very easy. I'm on the list still".

Amy giggled mutely. Who was this man she was with?

"Wouldn't it be nice to be dumb and have normal uneventful lives with boring parents we would loath?". She observed.

"And a normal boyfriend?". Sheldon finished the thought.

They finished their oats through the silence holding on to that thought. Even the aftershocks became dull to them with the ambient screaming coming to a disturbing dim.

Amy shuffled herself closer to him. It was like the whole game had changed hearing it out loud from him of all people.

"You did a lot of things for me, that I know where uncomfortable for you. I don't admit as much as should. Always wanting more I guess".

"I noticed that". He fired from the hip.

"Maybe we can just stay like this. I can learn to be happy with what I got. It can always be worse".

"I'm happy. I was always content with myself to some extent. But now it's like a roller-coaster, there are lows but there are some magnificent moments". Sheldon tried to extend to her.

Rolling her arm around his. Maybe he just summed up she felt with him "Thank you".

Something tidal waved over Sheldon that second however. Now that whole conversation didn't sound right to him. None of it did once spoken.

He was genuinely mad at himself. A rare event. Holding on to her hand, he noticed it was hot, clammy and shaking. He felt her forehead. Maybe he could even hate himself.


	5. Chapter 5

It had been a long day. Amy flat on the ground, trying to heal. Sheldon changing her dressing, applying self prescribed doses of antibiotics. He was at the biologists every soothing command. The only thing left for her to request was rest.

The radio still failed to provide any useful information. Just sputtering statistics of deaths with vague warnings on radiation levels. His key chain geiger counter showing normal levels, he figured the several meters of debris acted like some crude fallout shelter.

The internet still unavailable on his phone. His information sources where limited. With a pen and paper in the bag he tried to figure out what could be happening. SONGs was shut down two years previously but the nuclear waste was still there. Diablo canyon was only built for Richter scale 7.5 and was built backwards by accident to make things worse.

After twenty minutes of scribbling numbers on paper, he realized he had knew clue what he was doing. It was a maddening Schroedinger's cat kind of situation. There is either hopefully nothing, or they where being shielded and would have to wait out the half life of the worst fallout. That could be three weeks.

Sheldon only had supplies for the next two. Watching his sleeping girlfriend, he was sure he had much less time anyway. He pulled an errant lock of hair from her face. The dense hazel colour contaminated by the dust around them. On the tips of his fingers he could feel her sweat. Seeing her sleep didn't seem right to him. The only worse thing to him was that very thought.

Even with everything happening, she looked peaceful and somehow more pale then usual. If only she could be his snow white. That night Amy came home from Disneyland flashed through his mind. Why did it have to be so difficult? She was clean then, she wasn't infected. Everything was perfect and he threw it all away. It came to him, it was no wonder now she was so mad. Now the mystery to him why she still stayed with him.

His eyes wondered down from her well form lips, past her chest to the wound. It was bulging slightly, red with traces of purple.

"Hey". Amy opened softly. "You checking me out?". She let out a labored chuckle.

"It's bigger". Sheldon started squatting in fear again.

Amy peaked downwards. "Ok, maybe I don't have penis envy after all". Trying to lie to him the best way she could. Amy couldn't have him panicking. The pain was relentless but it was familiar to her by now.

Seeing he wasn't buying it, she tried a different one. "Which god should I pray to".

Sheldon thought of what she said easily. "I believe it's the same between the two".

Amy processed the pulses from her wound like childbirth. "I thought you where an atheist".

He started to smile at her. "Yes but for all intensive purposes, I request that we commence rites of passage such as marriage, baptism, funerals under some church. For my mother's sanity".

Thinking of her own mother she nodded her head. "Sure". Taking a second to go back through what he just said. Something flared up in her mind. "Marriage?".

Sheldon swallowed his own throat.

Amy closed her eyes to focus on breath. "I'm sorry, that wasn't fair".

"Of course, we have been courting for five years. Society is going to be wondering what we've been doing all this time".

Amy opened her eyes again. Her breathing got faster. Sheldon got into position possibly regretting getting her so agitated. She left out an awkward snort and started to laugh.

With all the strength she had left she reached for his cheek and rubbed it.

"Yes, Sheldon. I'll marry you".

Lost for words, for once. He felt the back of the hand rested on his face. He wished for the days it was warm. It now is goal in life to make more of them. As many as he could.

"And baptisms?".

Her face beaming despite it all. Sheldon couldn't help but join in.

"As many as possible. We must try to out breed at least one stupid couple". Sheldon answered.

"We thought about it five years ago, didn't we? What stopped us? Seems like couple of potential gifts of humanity went missing". Amy asked. Her tongue poking her left cheek.

"Some hogwash about ethics".

"It'd be fun. You can make them watch you're star things and I could make them learn the harp".

"I'm sure they will prefer my past times". Sheldon retorted.

"Sure, they could also end up being popular athletes with healthy social lives".

Sheldon made an exaggerated shivering noise and movement of his shoulders.

Amy could only leave out half a laugh. As she want back to labored breathing. Sheldon's face dropped. Grabbing the water pouch he waited for her to catch her breath. Wrapping the reflective blanket around her.. Lifting her head again to apply an N95 mask.

He then defied every hygienic rule he had, kissing her moist forehead. "You're going to be fine".

Focusing his flash lamp on the rubble he grabbed an expandable shovel. He figured what was the weakest point with the best structural integrity. Focusing the lamp from the opposite direction he took a good look at his new enemy.


	6. Chapter 6

Sheldon tensed up every time his shovel vibrated. It wasn't just the uneasy physical sensation, but knowing the time he would have to spend working around every steel beam. Closing his eyes he blew on his whistle and tried to visualize the next path.

The physics came easily to him, but his lack of strength almost destroyed him. Finding the next point, he aimed the shovel. With his two arms holding the shovel he tried to using his stronger legs to make a dent. Kicking, shaking, stabbing anything to get some movement. Pebbles rolled down and with nothing to bind him to the ground. Sheldon slid back into their refuge.

The sweat hitting his open abrasions. It felt like a constant electric shock. His eyes swelled, as he gritted teeth. The majority of his life he was upset, but crying was rare. He felt something that wasn't there go through his mouth down his throat. The tears started to roll against his salty sweat.

Amy rolled her hands against whatever wasn't wounded. "Take a break". She begged him.

"No", he growled. Rushing back into the debris. Whether they got crushed or not, Sheldon was sure she wasn't going to make it past tonight alone. With the other end of the shovel he stabbed at certain points. More pebbles came out. There was a substance whole somewhere. He then saw it, it took focus and maths but he could make out the new distance. A whole new space.

Something above it started to fall under too quickly. Using a steel pipe Sheldon tried to keep the rock off. The weight he estimated at over 90 kg. Twenty heavier then him. A slab. He legs loose heading down towards Amy. He thought of P.E. how pathetic it made him feel. A younger him thinking he would never need it. In fairness the probability of such an event worked in favour of that onion. It wasn't time for this however.

Trying to use his arms to hold up the slab wasn't working. His minimalist arm muscles close to giving in feeling like they where being stretch. Bending back while maintain force on the rod he climbed his legs through the rubble. He felt a crushing sensation from the back of neck to his toes.

Amy never heard him shout like this before. It was primal and aggressive. Like what she imagined his father to sound like on his legendary drunken rages. She wished she could stop him. To convince him help would come. That she would be ok, even if that wasn't the case. His arms wouldn't let him keep the rod down any longer.

But his feet quickly made it. Giving him seconds to stretch. Every one mattered to him, as creaking sounds taunted him. From behind he picked up another steel beam, his arms feeling soft and springy. Bending his back as much as physically possible he placed the beams behind him against the slab. Getting four done, Sheldon let go every muscle as everything started to go black.

He started to slide into the refuge again. His back scrapped by a loose steel bearing. Amy shouted for him. But was sure he couldn't make out her now raspy tone. With her arms she tried to lift herself from the ground. The wound now feeling like it occupied half her stomach. Walking seemed like an impractical use of energy. With each hand one at a time she dragged her body towards the new hole.

Seeing his feet she shouted up at him. There mustn't be enough air up there. He must have fainted, she thought. Praying he wasn't impaled she tried to drag him down by a centimetre. Seeing his bodies response, she felt safe to do so. First there was dust, then there was Sheldon as his feet collided with Amy's stomach. The high pitch from her scream couldn't stir him.

Using some dark magic secret of neuroscience, Amy didn't even know herself. She ignored the pain and rolled him aside in the space of a minute. Unbuttoning his pants and moving each leg towards his neck one by one. Sheldon started to murmur. As he did, Amy unbuttoned his shirt, her delicate fingers unable to stop shaking.

All that mattered for her was that he could get out. Even knowing what she was doing was extremely dangerous. Moving the wound. Now convinced there was blood flow, she rolled him over. Blood covering his back. But thankfully it was a thin layer mixed with sweet. She found the scabs and the scratch. Applied disinfectant, gauze and dressing. Sheldon stirred with the sudden influx of pain. He mind wasn't quite there yet as he looked into the rubble.

With the last reserves of adrenaline left in her, she wrapped his torso with cloth. Unsure if her fiancé was aware of his current situation. Knowing she didn't have much consciousness left, her last thoughts of the moment went something like "wow, my own Tom Hardy".

"Thank you, Amy". He lifted his body up then using his free hand to feel the dressing. Dazed he walked into the wall. They once relied on. His legs feeling like sponges, they didn't seem reliable. Like Amy before, he just shovelled his body through the space. She was unconscious. He tried to speed up but his arm muscles fighting him each movement. Feeling her neck, he desperately tried for a pulse.

There was a pulse. Amy was still with him. His head fell on her chest as he started to sob. Clinching fists Sheldon crawled around her. Moving like a snake through his vertical tunnel. He saw something wonderful for a change. Day light. Moving his joints again he started to climb. They where almost at the surface.


	7. Chapter 7

Pep pills, amphetamines inside. Sheldon purchased them while experimenting with the silk road. Recreational drugs repulsed him, his mother and Nancy Regan where very insistent after all. But 28 days later convinced him to purchase them. Just in case.

Rage was the only emotion left to feel for him now. Like a sith lord seeking to save his love, he embraced it. He was angry at the building inspectors, the god he was sure didn't exist and geologists. Geologists where scum. His field helped gave the world vehicles, electronics, atomic bombs etc. They couldn't even predict earthquakes yet. All that funding and for what?

The palpitations in his chest played like a check engine light. Just a small dose lead to that tunnel. Every muscle of his now felt spent as he lied down beside her. Grinding his teeth he counted the blinks. One per second. The sweat below him was now a shallow puddle. Unsure how much of it was hers.

He was also unsure if she would wake up in time, it was either now or having to regret it latter. Padding Amy in whatever he could strip from the bag. Sheldon wrapped some bicycle rope around her chest. Dragging her towards the tunnel, he climbed to where he used some rigid steel beams form a crane.

Swallowing, he felt that pulse. Sheldon Cooper was dead, He was nobody but her now. Amy was now suspended by the rope alone against the wall of his tunnel. He climbed above her and against his chest he bucketed some rocks against his chest. Bracing himself for the new frontier of pain slowly he grappled against walls.

Back on the ground, he ran for it. Arms protecting his head. The last shred of his self preservation surviving the new chemistry in his brain.

Grinding into the wall as he tried to find the second hook, he was sure the force was enough to keep her up. Forcing his body against wall trying to keep up the momentum. Feeling the rope slip, he wrapped around his left leg as it violently jerked beck. Kneeing the wall as it squeezed his leg close to the point of bursting muscle.

Getting it through the hook, Sheldon bolted for the tunnel wrapping the rope against the opposite leg this time. With his shoulders and tips of his date night shoes he climbed the tunnel. Closing the hook against the top, she was suspended from the top like a christmas tree decoration. The next challenge was to get her in recovery position as quickly as possible.

Reaching the surface of the free space, he pulled the wire as it fought him with it's elasticity. Amy slipping, he used a stone to crawl through what used to be somebodies floor. Rotating his body 360 degrees the wire whipped him like punishment.

"Gravity you bitch, you will not defeat Sheldon Lee Cooper". He howled, using his bummed legs as threads against the ground.

Finding a spot where she could stay up he improvised another hook. Twenty seconds at most, he thought. There wasn't enough time to be scared, as his spongy leg become unresponsive. Hearing the cord tear as he used every muscle in his body to slither the two meter distance. Holding his breath his face went incandescent as he tried rolling towards her. There was something left his torso that he could use it seemed.

He pulled on the shreds of her dress. What was less then ten seconds life felt like ten minutes. As he tried to drag her out centimetre by centimetre.

Sheldon never thought it would feel so good to have Amy on top of him. Embracing her, he let body fall to the right of him. His eyes closing.

Neither could tell how long they where out for.

"Where are we?". Amy opens her eyes as she noticed the beauty. Clear blue skies, like she hadn't seem them for years.

"Sheldon? Sheldon". She asked terrified.

Hearing his name didn't feel right. Breathing was now his main concern "Yes"?

"Sheldon. You where amazing, but lets just stay here and try to recover". Amy tried to suggest. "This is it". As she listened to her wound.

Sheldon attempted to lift himself by the act of bending alone. His limbs now feeling foreign. He rubbed to the wall, just managing to sit up and watch her try to give up.

Amy tried to take in every second of the new serenity. A white plane flying overhead. It looked commercial too. Everywhere life was back to normal, the world kept turning. She felt small but it didn't bother her.

Destroying the peace, Sheldon blew on his whistle. He was determined it wouldn't end here. Surely somebody was above them that could help. Ten minutes in of irritating Amy. They could see a head emerge. Two shadowed figures emerged climbing down the scissors of rubble. The relief was cut short as they started shuffling through Sheldon and Amy's bodies.

Lacking the energy to shout at them. Sheldon could only faintly whisper to inform his own looter that there was food down the tunnel. To make it easier, he decided to take in the hateful attitude his father tried to raise him with. With his right arm suspended in the air, he used the left pull out his multi-tool. And the right to pull the young man in.

"Pick me up". Sheldon nicked the side of the man's neck. "Don't think that I am worrying about any potential remorse", he continued his threat.

Looking at Amy, Sheldon shouted almost unintelligibly. "Her, pick her up. She's injured do it slowly".

Amy wasn't sure who she was more scared off. The two guys or the stranger. But she was thankful the latter was on her side.

Enjoying the sun, Amy extended the olive branch. "There is food there, you can have it. Just walk us to a medic please". She begged knowing they could just drop them both.

"Ok girl, the place is two minutes away". The man holding her accepted.

"You could have asked nicely". His companion with a blade still uncomfortably shaking against his Adam's apple.

"Same with you". Sheldon said grinding his teeth.

"Is he crazy?". Amy's man asked.

Somehow, Amy could smile again. "No, his mother had him tested".


	8. Goodbye Sheldon

_**These are the last three chapters of the Seismic Fracture. I have written three different endings. The first from Amy's perspective, the second from Sheldon's and the third is a epilogue of a year later. I decided to upload all at once in case this one or the next are too grim one at a time. Thanks for the really kind reviews, thanks to hazerla7 for the guidance and I really hope you enjoy it.**_

Goodbye Sheldon

I can make out white. A small field of it. The young man carrying me is capable as he cradles me in his arms. I don't know why he's helping me. He's tired, thirsty and hungry. He could have let us die.

I force myself to stay awake for Sheldon's sanity as he watches me like a hawk. For the drugged up beast he became, there is still that anxious boy-like look in his eyes. I couple of days ago I worried about it. Today it's the greatest relief I have ever felt. He's still there.

Taking a few steps Sheldon tries to walk for himself as approaches me and Derrick. We're closing in and I don't want to see any of it. Derrick's expression telling me to dread what's next. No real emotion but that hint of hardship in his eyes. He knows by now things just don't work out.

Sheldon approaches him, the two peacefully go about transferring me as I sneak in a one armed hug for Derrick. "Thanks, I know you guys didn't have to".

Derrick tells what he's been putting off the past ten minutes. "Those hospitals, they're full. You're going to be waiting hours. I know a guy who does fast for the highest bidder. Chinese I think".

"Well we have nothing to give him". Sheldon snapped as tried to balance both of us.

"Oh they take credit".

"Let me assume, 20% APR?"

Derrick smiles. His eyes still tragic. "Worse".

We're already outside the entrance. I give him a look, but Sheldon still declines. "No thank you, we'll take our chances".

He offers Sheldon his hand. "I pray you guys are going to be al right", he says trying to laugh. Unable to get the sounds out.

"Well I wish the same for you, those meals have fireless cookers. Read the instructions. Radiation levels are higher then normal, so take iodine". Sheldon thanks them in his own way. I guess he's just so relieved we're here.

As we enter the first thing I notice is the screaming around us. Next thing is the shell shocked nurses. We stand in line for what feels like twenty minutes as Sheldon eyes a national guard's assault rifle. Every step I feel like I lose something. I wonder what would it have been like if never have met. Would I have been trapped in a building in Glendale waiting to die?

I can make out arguing, begging. Now I here troops shouting. My eyes shut through the whole thing as I hold on to his arm like a child. Not knowing what's happening, yet being much happier for it. I know what's happening. Sheldon isn't going to take it well.

I honestly don't know how I'm taking it so well. No marriage, no kids. Wouldn't they make me so much more happy? Five years ago I was so sure my only partner would be George Forman.

When I met him, years of distrusting others didn't matter. He was like myself. Both of us operating on a different hertz to those around us. Only being tolerated by those around us. I was so worried of my old symptoms fading. I was so inappropriate, goofy and repressed at the same time. Being so worried that it would divide us. Yet some how gradually we grew closer.

Little over five years ago I was single. So sure I wasn't going to be loved. Then very quickly, I'm in this strange platonic relationship. I wondered why I wasn't happy all those years after. Now too late, I know that wasn't the point. I'm glad I was angry, bored, depressed, lonely. Without any of it, I'm sure I would have anything to feel right now.

We sit on the ground. I watch his shaking hands trying to fill out the stained form. I try to speak. To make a request. For him to leave when I'm done. To find our friends. To tell them I love them. As we sit, my head dives into this shoulders. My clammy hand the only means of communication left I inserted into his arm and squeeze. I grip as well I as can. It might not be enough.

My head falls into his arm again. I can't lift it. I hope Sheldon Lee. Cooper doesn't die. I hope another can endure him to find who he really is. I did and I would chose no other path but this.


	9. My Father

My Father

The white tents become apparent even after a minute of walking. They're ominous, the large scale implying few staff to many patients. The reports say much of the relief is focused in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

My father would tell me never to rely on a system. The systems are only destined to fail because they can. As with everybody else, I didn't take him seriously. But he was correct. Murphy's Law stating that anything that can go wrong, eventually will.

I watch her and can't help but feel feel pathetic. Needing somebody to hold myself up, let alone carry her. I hope he's doing it right. Not creasing her or jolting her too much.

They tell me there is an alternative. It's expensive and I won't even require cash. Never a good sign. I consider it. But what if the doctor's aren't qualified. What if the line grows while we waste our time with some incompetent unequipped quack. What if it's some ploy by the two.

We say our goodbyes to the two who helped us. As they head for the supplies they offered us it feels as if I am passing a Rubicon. With just enough strength, we make our way into the tent. I can just about hold Amy vertically as she kicks the ground with her toes. I was sure the stench couldn't get any worse then the hole we where trapped in. I was wrong. I look at horror at the huddled masses, still waiting for the attention of a doctor or nurse. They're faces stoic.

In front of us is a motionless national guard soldier. He must be passing out from the humidity. His AR exposed. I look at Amy. She's not the same person. Her hair like straw, her skin like stone. She is barley conscious. She's going to die unmarried, with no prodigy to carry the wonders her genetics code holds. Or more importantly, no children influenced by her.

She had been so good to me. I refused to realize it but patient but also competent. Years of lesser people attempting to correct me, she is the only one capable of making a dent on me. Now I broken. The results of my thought processes now unpredictable. I pop another pill as I realize chemistry is only half of this story.

The handle of the rifle available. It's just too tempting. I focus my vision on him and find somewhere to drop Amy safely. Closing in, I pull out the rifle. The carbine much like what my father thought me on. Diving myself into the crowded line I can hear the awakened soldier shouting. I find a doctor.

"Nobody respond, otherwise you will lose a doctor".

I see the barrels of many rifles and hear clicking almost like thunder. I point at the soldier where I left Amy. My rifle still aimed at the grey hair of the doctor. "She's needs surgery, she was impaled by a steel beam. I have cleaned, disinfected and stitched the wound. I believe she has internal bleeding".

With the last shred of desperation. I beg them. "Her name is Amy Ferrah Fowler, she is a 32 year old neuroscientist, who lives in Glendale and she's allergic to penicillin. Help her". As I nod the gun closer into the grey temple.

He puts his arms up. The wailing and screaming around us rising up again. Nurses grab Amy and move her into the OR. To my horror I find it's a wide open space with many patients. They lie her flat and cut off her dress. I try to read the expressions on the nurse's eyes. They must think this a waste of time. Thankfully I hold some sway in that decision.

"I don't have the equipment to help her". The lowest parts of my brain works as I hit the barrel sharply off his head. "And yet I can see three of the same operations being performed in front of us. I see a full load out in front of me". Behind me the men close in.

"I'm just a plastic surgeon". Shaking his head, his mouth drooping. So angry I cannot speak. I keep my silence. Knowing he'll try his best because "If she dies, you die, I die".

Motivated he continues. I lose all sense of time as I get lost in my own mind. Amy was a new universe to explore. When I kissed her, I found sensations I couldn't understand. When I felt like I knew it all, had it all. She destroyed it all. There was so much more to discover with her. Why did I have to be scared?

Betraying myself. I close my eyes. Over 48 hours without sleep is never a good idea.

Opening them the sharp light pierces my eyes. My peripheral vision picks up a wall behind me. "Any last words?".

I feel like an animal. No sense of time. I don't know if it was two minutes, two hours or two days since I was at that operation room. I don't know what's happened to Amy. I don't know who to be angry at any more. They're doing they're job. It's the chaos at work.

Amy, the girl who tried to fix me. The girl who convinced me to improve. I wish I was faster, I wish I was stronger. But there is no point in that. The guns are pointing at me, I'm wasting time and there is fear in their eyes.

"Don't let her die".


	10. The Deal

_**Hi, I've edited this chapter because it was way too confusing. This is the third different ending. A big thanks to the reviewers who helped me improve the chapter. And sorry to anybody who was confused.**_

The Deal

Watching the hundreds of students shuffle, Sheldon never felt so alone in his life. Option C, they found the illegal clinic not too far away. The staff competent and swift the second he showed his was the last he saw of Amy in person. Signing the forms he legally became half a million yuan in debt to a shell corporation. Making it sure it would be difficult for him to leave they moved him to Shanghai. Then arranging a new teaching position for him in Shanghai University to pay his debt. He was doing quite well and was on track to become head of a well funded Physics department.

The three hour lecture behind him, he found himself mobbed by his students again. Most questions because of his to poor mandarin clashing with their poor English.

Sheldon fought the small crowd one step at a time until something three meters away struck him. Her posture wasn't the best but her hair was perfectly straight. Dressed in a green cardigan, blue skirt, purple tights he admired her fashion sense. She was arguing with the administrators and a security guard. Security was tight with that war against Japan now. He started to shove now.

The past six months all he saw of her where photos of her recovery. All of them printed, no contact with her permitted. Just knowing she was ok seemed enough he would lie to himself. Sheldon wondered why did she bother looking for him. It wasn't fair. Not on her anyway. Why couldn't she just find someone else? Why is she seeking to be as imprisoned as he is? It didn't feel worth arguing now. It seemed like time was short now.

Pulling his arm through the students he tipped Amy's right shoulder. "Don't touch me", she snapped. He touched her again. Amy held her finger out like a gun. "Hey", she shouted.

Turning, her face dropped. Ignoring everybody around her. Amy jumped into his chest, covering him with her arms. Her face against his chest, she could even feel his heart palpitate.

The two held on to each other trying make each borrowed second last. He kissed her forehead. "Another four years of this contract...". Sheldon whispered to her in pain. His head collapsing into her shoulder.

Amy rubbed her cheeks against his and smiled. "I made it through the first five". Feelings the guard's fingers on her back, Amy grappled into Sheldon. "I am preparing a home for us in Cambridge. Our friends are fine, they're a bit spread out now though".

Being separated again hurt her more then any impalement. The security guards started to pull Amy away. To avoid any more trouble. Amy let go.

"May 7th 2020". Sheldon shouted his face lighting up. His every move watched and the great firewall blocking any communication. He knew that would be the next time they'd meet. That was his Faustian bargain. The students closed in like prison bars around him as Sheldon watched the sky walk away.

 ** _This is the third ending. Chapter 8 was tragic, Chapter 9 was crazy and Chapter 10 is bitter sweet. It was meant to play out like run lola run._**

 ** _So that's it. I hope you've enjoyed reading as much as I've enjoyed writing this. I'm sorry if it was hard to read alot of the bad grammer. Feel free to let me know if about it and I'll get around to fixing it. Thanks for the great reviews, they motivated me to keep going. A big thanks to hazelra7  who really helped me make the ending less dreadful and who I hope to write fan fictions as well as someday. _**


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